C&W provides consultancy for LEED certification for buildings in Brasília

In a near future, the whole Condominium Parque Cidade Corporate, located at Setor Comercial Sul (South Business Sector) in Brasília, will be LEED certificated (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), applied in 143 countries and intended for promotion of sustainability in designs, works and operations. The complex is comprised of three twelve-story towers, each floor with an approximate area of 2,000 square meters: towers A & C are owned by Previ – Caixa de Previdência dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil (pension fund for employees of Banco do Brasil) while tower B is owned by Sarkis Engenharia.

The certification process started at Tower A in 2012, conducted by Cushman & Wakefield — that was the first actual building to receive LEED EB:O&M certificate in Brasília. “Good part of recommendations along Tower A certification process was naturally adopted for the other two, that are currently passing through the same proceedings under our lead”, says Danielle Fernandes, Business Development Manager, and adds: “The market requires the companies to be certificated, chiefly for existing buildings. That is a global trend. Currently, just one project out of ten has no certificate, hindering its competitiveness.”

In fact, certificated buildings are commercially attractive for the owner and even better for tenants, who will make use of an enjoyable and comfortable space. A LEED certification indicates that the project applies good management of water, power and waste, with proven saving. “You can, for instance, install a daily water meter, allowing prompt detection of leaks and immediate repair, rather than waiting for the bill to notice that something is not ok. Other effective measure is the inspection of power demanding systems, that is, sometimes it requires a minor change of operation of equipment to reach significant saving. These and other measures allow sustainable operation of the building”, explains Marília Leite, Sustainability Analyst.

Typically, the certification is renewed every five years. Therefore, buildings are required to maintain all measures taken, aiming good management of resources to obtain recertification. “We advise our customers to collect every evidence related to operations of the building, so as to evidence the consistency with the LEED certification, and this is an endless process. Every procedure is always open for improvements”, concludes Marília.